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Bastian Steuwer and Nir Eyal on “low-dosage” challenge trials

In a paper published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, CPLB postdoc Bastian Steuwer and CPLB director Nir Eyal, with coauthor Zeb Jamrozik, propose a new challenge trial design for the continued testing of COVID-19 vaccines. The paper proposes a “low-dosage” challenge trial in which participants are exposed to a lower viral dose than is conventionally done. The authors argue that such a low-dosage trial can alleviate concerns about excessive risks to individual participants that have been raised against the use of challenge trials. In addition, they assess key scientific and pragmatic advantages of the novel design.